This is another picture of the first cliff we jumped off of. From this height and distance, it looks really small. Seeing as how I was scared to do that, imagine how I felt standing on top of this monstrosity looking at the water below. I was petrified, but I was going to do it.

We had just tucked our things into the bushes and were about to jump when a voice rang out and said, "Were you guys going to jump off of the cliff?" We turned around and saw two park rangers/sheriffs (I don't remember who they worked for, but I knew that they were authority figures.) We told them that we weren't going to, we were just hiking. Since our clothes were relatively dry and we were just talking about it instead of doing it, they let us go with a warning. They could have issued us a fine, because it is illegal to dive or jump from the rocks. Apparently at least 1 person dies here every year, mostly because they are drunk and or stupid and end up drowning after falling off the cliff. This theory was proven by all of the scattered beer cans and assorted garbage on the top of the cliff. They accused us of littering, so we picked up all of the trash and tried to play innocent by telling them that we didn't know it was illegal to jump, even though we saw the posted signs on our way over here. They escorted us away from the rocks, and we went to the swimming area to cool off. I would very much like to go back and successfully jump off of the big cliff someday, but we'd have to be quick and sneaky, which is hard for Mike and I.

This water-filled quarry was definitely one of the most interesting places that I have gone swimming. It's just like a normal lake until you get about 20 feet away from the beach. Normally, the depth of a lake gets increasingly deep as you wade in. In this quarry, the water level stays the same for 10-15 feet then it totally drops off to about 50 feet deep. My mind and body were flipping out because I was treading water, and 5 feet away someone would only be standing waist-deep in the water. I felt like I was tripping out on drugs, and I couldn't concentrate while I was looking towards the beach. To counteract this problem, we swam out into the lake and distanced ourselves from the rest of the people there. We hung out in the lake for a while (it was a beautiful day) but didn't stay long because we still had to drive home.

Brewers vs. Twins Games in Minnesota

Home

Mike and I do a little bit of pre-jump goofiness before I put away the camera and jump off into the great unknown. I was mostly goofing off because I was scared to jump and plummet the 30-50 feet into the water. The 10 foot cliff was scary enough, and I just couldn't imagine throwing myself into the air and hoping that I don't die along the way. I put it off as long as I could before we decided that it was time to jump.

I wish that cameras were able capture the distance between me and the water. In this picture, it doesn't look like it is very far away. What you can see though, is the jagged rocks below. You have to make sure and jump out far enough so that you don't kill yourself.